Six Lawmakers Move To Impeach Governor Rotimi Amaechi

Six anti-Rotimi Amaechi lawmakers, on Thursday listed impeachable offences committed by the state governor and vowed that he (Amaechi) would be impeached at the appropriate time.

The leader of the anti-Amaechi lawmakers, Mr. Evans Bipi, said Amaechi’s interference in the affairs of the state judiciary and meeting with other members of the House of Assembly at the Government House were impeachable offences that would count against the governor.

Bipi, who spoke with the PUNCH in a telephone interview on Thursday, also listed the alleged poor handling of the monorail project and purported seizure of the allowances of the six lawmakers perceived to be against his (Amaechi) administration as some of the governor’s impeachable offences.

He said, “But why is Amaechi afraid of impeachment? If he has not committed any impeachable offence, why is he afraid? Interfering in the affairs of the judiciary alone is an impeachable offence; meeting with lawmakers in Government House is an impeachable offence because that is not the hallowed chamber.

“Again, seizing our (six lawmakers) allowances, salaries and constituency projects funds is an impeachable offence. The poor handling of the monorail project is an impeachable offence.

“He used the project to siphon Rivers money. I have the figures on the monorail project and I will give them to you later. So, if he (Amaechi) has not committed an impeachable offence, why is he afraid?”

Bipi, however, explained that the anti-Amaechi lawmakers were not ready to remove the governor from office immediately, adding that the governor would not escape being impeached at the appropriate time.

“I can proudly say that we, the responsible and law abiding members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have said it time without number that we have no such plan to impeach Governor Amaechi, even though he is guilty of so many impeachable offences.

“We have the intention to impeach and when we do that, he will know that we are in the majority. We will impeach him when the time comes. But for now, we have no plan to impeach the governor. But he knows that he has committed a lot of impeachable offences,” Bipi added.